Candice’s Blog

A Beautiful Eulogy

So in a previous post I mentioned my final decision to no longer compete in the sport of bikini or figure bodybuilding.

The following is my “burial” message or eulogy to the past four years of my involvement in the sport and everything that came with it, good and bad.

Now I’m not forsaking fitness or a healthy lifestyle as bodybuilding and competition is honestly neither true fitness or a truly healthy lifestyle. It’s actually discrete yo-yo dieting and psychological self-destruction at it’s best, because the weight loss is temporary and at unhealthy lows that the body cannot sustain long term.

But as a believer and follower of Christ, I’ve realized how one can also develop an unbalanced obsession in the pursuit of rising to the top of the sport. The attitudes that develop, the relationships you forsake, and the ungodly attention that it attracts, especially as a woman (it strips your modesty), and certain men prey on that concept.

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.Rather, it should be that of your inner self,the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” ~ 1 Peter 3:3-4

In other words: #DontFeedTheTrolls

So in considering such things, God spoke to me through his word as He always so faithfully does beckoning me to walk away from the lifestyle and industry as well as certain people associated with it, but even moreso to also walk away from discussing it or sharing it on social media.🙊🙉🙈

So in pondering the instructions to walk away, the following scripture comes to mind:

“Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.” ~Deut. 12:3

Image is everything in today’s society, I find myself regularly asking the question: “how do you want people to perceive you, what message do you want to send to the world around you?” These were questions I had to stop and ask myself as the predatory behavior over the past year continued to surface through social media comments, private messages, and even from people I once thought were my friends and once thought I could trust. So I’m tearing🔥 down every ‘idol’ , every image and remnant that relates to that era in my life, walking away from the industry and never looking back.🙈🙉🙊

So in this “Beautiful Eulogy” or Ecclesiastes 12 (quoted at the end of this post) I’m declaring my stance on my current perspective of the priorities, events and activities of my life yesterday and today, tearing down, and forsaking the worthless things and ideas that I once clinged so strongly to, in the pursuit of so called “fame” as one of my former bodybuilding coaches put it; as he’d always say, whenever I felt like giving up on competing “that’s the price you pay for fame.” A worthless statement in the eyes of God, when your life becomes centered around the pursuit of self satisfying glory and fame in the eyes of people.

So, needless to say that “fleeting fame” is worthlessness, in comparison to the Crown of Life God has promised to those who love Him.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.~ James 1:12

He also calls us to also give our bodies to Him as a living sacrifices to His will, not our own, in order to truly worship Him in spirit and truth:

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice–the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” ~ Rom.12:1

So what are we clinging to? Notoriety, fame, trophies, opinions of people, validation, etc.? Today I’m tearing down those idols and throwing them in the fire! They are worthless in comparison to the Crown of Life and all that God has promised me in this life and the next.

MY BEAUTIFUL EULOGY TO YESTERDAY & THE PROMISE TO MY TODAY:

Ecclesiastes 12The Message (MSG)

1-2 Honor and enjoy your Creator while you’re still young, Before the years take their toll and your vigor wanes, Before your vision dims and the world blurs. And the winter years keep you close to the fire.

3-5 In old age, your body no longer serves you so well. Muscles slacken, grip weakens, joints stiffen. The shades are pulled down on the world. You can’t come and go at will. Things grind to a halt. The hum of the household fades away. You are wakened now by bird-song. Hikes to the mountains are a thing of the past. Even a stroll down the road has its terrors. Your hair turns apple-blossom white, Adorning a fragile and impotent matchstick body. Yes, you’re well on your way to eternal rest, While your friends make plans for your funeral.

6-7 Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over. Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends. The body is put back in the same ground it came from. The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it.

8 It’s all smoke, nothing but smoke. The Teacher says that everything’s smoke.

The Final Word

9-10 Besides being wise himself, the Teacher also taught others knowledge. He weighed, examined, and arranged many proverbs. The Teacher did his best to find the right words and write the plain truth.

11 The words of the wise prod us to live well. They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd.

12-13 But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There’s no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for anything else. The last and final word is this:

Fear God. Do what he tells you.

14 And that’s it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it’s good or evil.

The context of Ecc.12 describes my Beautiful Eulogy to yesterday and my Beautiful Beginning for the years to come.

“At the cusp of another year ending

Folding into another

Looking back over the past years

Standing at the peak of a beautiful

3 decades plus 5 annuals later

I remember the days of my Youth

With a smile and a content heart

As I remember how a wise person once said,

Honor and Enjoy the Gifts of your

Creator while you’re still young

Before the years take their toll and

Your vigor wanes

Before your vision dims and the

World blurs and

The winter years keep you close to the fire.

Though I don’t consider myself old in age,

I am old in soul

Soul so old that perspective precedes all

Transcends all

In all, and of all things I do in life

This life, my life

This fit life, is it meaningless

When your body no longer serves you so well?

Muscles slacken, grip weakens, joints stiffen.

No.

Not when you know purpose

And holdfast to perspective

Because in this life

At a predetermined time and place

The shades are pulled down on the world

Your world, my world, our world

Certain things grind to a halt.

Intentionally and unintentionally at best

People and places fade away.

Meaningless chatter ceases

Phony faces pale

In the sight of authentic Grace

In those days when

You are awakened now by God’s-song.

His Purpose and Perspective

His Promise

His Peace

Overzealous ideals and

Fleeting ambitions are a thing of the past.

The overarching goal is Love

Peace

Rest and

Vitality

For even a stroll down the road will have its terrors.

So remember the Gift and the Giver

Of the yonder years before

Your hair turns apple-blossom white

Adorning a fragile body.

Yes, we’re all well on your way to an eternal Rest,

And Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over.

Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends.

The Body

Yeah that frail thing, every

Bone and marrow

Joint and tendon

Muscle and fiber

All of that flesh

Is put back in the same ground it came from.

And the Spirit returns to God, who first breathed it.

So just breathe and keep living and live well

Living for what matters most

That which is Eternal and

Will never fail, flee, fade or falter”

❤Candice Maria

Travel Light

#NYE2017

Thank you for traveling with me, until next time, I am Candice Maria and this is Candice Maria’s {Faithfully}Fit Life❤